My background in American politics and public policy uniquely positions me to teach core courses in both fields. I have completed a range of coursework on public policy analysis and management through the Evans School of Public Affairs, which led to a certificate in those fields. I also have a wide range of methodological training developed through the interdisciplinary Center for the Statistics and the Social Sciences, which brings together faculty from the departments of Sociology, Economics, and Political Science to offer courses in quantitative methods.

I am particularly interested in developing courses that combine content from both of my fields of expertise. As a political scientist, I am also interested in familiarizing public policy students into the vagaries of the political process. Too often, graduate programs in public policy deemphasize this aspect of public policy training. As a result, students come out of graduate school with excellent training in policy analysis but little understanding of political feasibility.

I view research methods, including quantitative and qualitative approaches, to be an essential component of undergraduate education. Many students in the social sciences lack a background or interest in the more obscure subjects of research design and statistics but these subjects provide students with a foundation for critical thinking and analysis. I attempt to foster these skills in the classroom in two ways. First, I regularly integrate examples of research into required course readings, lectures and discussions. This provides students with opportunities to evaluate the quality of the arguments and findings in research. Second, I include especially noteworthy or provocative examples of media and interest group misuse of social science research findings. I find not only do these examples engage students, but they also illustrate the importance of critically evaluating information in the media marketplace.

I have had a variety of teaching and mentoring experiences. I taught a course on public policy formation for undergraduates in Winter 2011 and I was a teaching assistant for the undergraduate research methods course. I have also been the graduate student mentor in two NSF-funded "Research Experiences for Undergraduate" projects. I am eager to teach in multiple areas of American politics and public policy. Contact me for a full list of courses.

Center for American Politics & Public Policy

The Center for American Politics & Public Policy offers undergraduates the opportunity to participate in the Center's research activities through a year long fellowship program. Fellows receive training in research methods and actively contribute to an NSF funded research project on public policy. For application instructions, please see the website.

The Policy Agendas Project collects and codes data from a variety of legislative sources into policy content areas. The website includes a suite of online data analysis tools, including user tutorials, teaching resources, and downloadable data.